Supply-pipe for lavatory-fittings.



A. O. SGHUERMANN. SUPPLY PIPE FOR LAVATORY FITTINGS.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 21,1910.

1,017,81 3, Patented Feb. 20, 1912.

S14 uMHCO L fix/f0 Z. Jc/zzzermann w'i Cmeooco UNITED STATES PATENT@FFIGE- ANTON C. SCHUERMANN, OF DECATUR, ILLINOIS j ASSIGNOR TO THE E.MUELLER MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF DECATUR, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OFILLINOIS.

SUPPLY-PIPE FOR LAVATORY-FITTINGS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 20, 1912.

Application filed July 21, 1910. Serial No. 573,127.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I. ANTON C. SCHUER- MANN, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Decatur, in the county of Macon and State ofIllinois, have invented new and use ful Improvements in Supply-Pipes forLavatory-Fittings, of which the following is a specification.

My present invention relates to certain.

new and useful improvements in supply pipes and detachable jointconnections therefor especially designed for association with lavatoryfittings such as bath and basin cocks, although the invention is notlimited to this particular use as the pipe member with its improvedannular shoulder and tapering or conical seating end will be found to beserviceable in other connections.

In plumbing work especially, it has been the practice heretofore toemploy a supply pipe having a conical or tapered projection at or nearone end to fit into a conical seat formed in the member to which thesupply pipe is attached and there is a shoulder in rear of this conicalor tapered projection with which shoulder the coupling nut employed tohold the parts together engages. In some cases, as where the supply pipeis composed of a relatively thin metal tube, the conical or taperedprojection has been in the form of a separate and removable soft metalgasket fitted upon the end of the pipe in advance of a collar fixed tosaid pipe; and in other cases, as where a tail-piece is employed inconnection with the supply-pipe, the said tail-piece has been made ofcast metal and has its tapered or conical projection cast integraltherewith, forming with its associated seat, what is known as a groundjoint. Both of these types of supplypipes and theirjoint connections aremore or less objectionable in that they are expensive to manufacture;they require the several parts of which they are comprised to beassembled before the joint can be made, and in many instances, it isdifiicu-lt, and sometimes impossible, to make a perfectly fluid-tightjoint.

It is the purpose of the present invention to obviate the foregoing andother objectionable features present in the prior constructions and toprovide a pipe section or supply member of the character described thatwill be simple in construction, comparatively cheap to manufacture andone wherein a perfectly fluid-tight joint may be readily made with itsassociated connecting member and without employing the usual separatelead or other cone gaskets or washers.-

Briefly and generally stated the invention resides in a new and usefulunitary article of manufacture capable of universal application toexisting plumbing installations, and comprises a pipe section or supplymember formed of a relatively thin metal tube having a portion thereofnear one end expanded latera ly in all directions to provide an annularshoulder near such end, the metal of the tube in advance of the shoulderbeing tapered to form a conical end seat-ing portion or extremity thewall of which is arched or convex in crosssection and adapted to fitinto and make line contact with an outwardly flaring seat formed as anextension of the passage through the associated member, which latter maybe a faucet-shank or other lavatory fitting, and the mean diameter ofsaid conical end portion or extremity being greater than the diameter ofthe tube.

In the accompanying drawing, which, it will be understood, is merelyillustrative of one embodiment of the invention; Figure l, is asectional elevation of one form of my invention shown associated withthe shank of a bath-cock. I invention shown disconnected. Figs. 3, 4 and5, are vertical sectional views showing respectively the metal tube inthe rough and the subsequent steps in the process of forming the annularshoulder and the tapered or conical seating end in advance thereof.

Referring to the drawing the reference numeral 10, designates a pipesection which in the instance shown in Fig. 1 is in the form of asupply-pipe associated with the shank of a lavatory fitting, such as abathcock. The pipesection is formed of a relatively thin seamless metaltube, and preferably a drawn metal tube, because of the fact that insome instances the tube is required to be bent at certain points;because of its great tensile strength; because it is susceptible ofbetter finish, (these pipes being usually employed in what is known asopen plumbing and therefore are highly polished) and furthermore becausea drawn metal tube may be more quickly and cheaply worked and shaped asrequired in connection with the purposes of this invention. Near one endof the said pipe section the metal of the tube is expanded laterally inall Fig. 2, is an elevation of thedirections to provide an annularshoulder 11, and in advance of said shoulder there is an enlargedtapered or conical end or seating portion 12, which is formed bycompressing the metal at the end portion of the tube from the shoulderforward to its extremity, the mean diameter of said conical or seatingportion being greater than the di ameter of the tube and the annularwall of which is arched or convex in cross-section. It will thus be seenthat the tapered or conical seating portion is formed as an integralpart of the tube and is formed from the metal wall of the tube itself,which metal wall during the expanding operation is drawn somewhatthinner than the body of the tube and is therefore slightly yielding sothat it will the more readily conform to and closely fit the outwardlyflaring seat in the member with which it is associated.

The annular shoulder 11, and the tapered or conical seating portion 12,may be easily, quickly and cheaply formed by means of dies and in theprocess of manufacture I first take an ordinary seamless drawn metaltube or pipe section as shown in Fig. 3, and by means of suitable diesexpand one end thereof until it assumes substantially the shapeillustrated in Fig. 4, and then by means of other dies the wall of thetube at its extremity in advance of the annular shoulder '11, is drawninward or contracted to form the tapered or conical projection 12, asshown in Fig. 5. These operations may be carried on with ease andrapidity and inasmuch as the shoulder and tapered or conical portion areformed by dies they will be absolutely uniform and will require nofurther finishing to make them smooth and shapely. The opposite end ofthe pipe-section or tubular supply member 10, when it is furnished as anarticle of manufacture may be provided with threads to receive acoupling nut or it may be left smooth, as when it is telescoped at saidend into a service pipe and connected by means of the well known slipjoint coupling nut as shown in Fig. 1.

When my improved pipe-section is made in the form of a supply-pipe anddesigned for connection with a bath cock it is usually made in the formof an elbow as shown in Fig. 1. In this figure the reference numeral14-. designates a faucet-shank screw-threaded for a part of its lengthand having a collar 15, at one end which serves as a stop for a couplingnut 16, said nut serving as the means for coupling a bath-cock or faucetto the shank. preferably provided with an internal outwardly flaring ortapered seat 17, which seat is formed as an extension of the Wall of theopening through the pipe and into which the yielding and conical ortapered projection 12 of the pipe section or supply mem- The rear end ofthe shank is ber 10, is fitted with its convex wall in facial contactwith the said flaring seat 17 and the connection is made by means of acoupling nut 18, the flange 19, of which bears against the annularshoulder 11, on the pipesection 10, and by screwing the said nut homeupon the shank 1 1, the arched or convex wall of the conical projection12 will be drawn up tightly making what I have termed a line contactagainst the tapered seat 17 in the shank, resulting in a fluid tightjoint being made without the aid of a separate packing ring or washer asheretofore usually employed. If the shank 14 is passed through anaperture in a bath tub or other lavatory receptacle, said shank will beprovided with an adjustable flange 20, and a lock-nut 21, these saidmembers being threaded upon the shank. As before stated, it will also beseen, by referring to the drawing, that the seat-engaging wall of thehead or seating portion 12, is arched or convex in cross-section so thatit may be readily brought into fluid-tight seating engagement with theflaring or tapered wall 17, of a faucet shank or other member, thecontact between these two members being, what may be termed, a linecontact, and inasmuch as the wall of the head 12, is relatively long andarched or convex in crosssection, it may be brought into seatingengagement with outwardly flaring seats of different diameters, and thecoupling pipe may, therefore, be said to be of universal application.

In case the lower end of the supply-pipe 10, is smooth and designed fora telescopic or slip joint connection with a service pipe 22, as shownin Fig. 1, I prefer to employ a coupling nut 23, and a washer 24, whichnut s adapted to screw upon the end of the service plpe so as tocompress the packing between the nut and the end of the servicepipe insuch manner as to make a tight-joint between these parts.

While I have herein illustrated my invention as applied to a supply-pipefor lavatory receptacles, I do not wish to be understood as limitingmyself to this specific application except as I may be limited by theterms of the appended claims, as obviously the supply-member orpipe-section constituting the subject-matter of this application may bedesigned for use in other connections without departing from the spiritof the invention.

What I claim is:

1. As a new article of manufacture, a supply pipe adapted for connectionat its opposite ends respectively with a faucet shank and a servicepipe, said supply pipe comprising a drawn metal tube having a por- Illgitudinal sect-ion and tapering from the perimeter of the shoulder tothe extremity of the tube to provide an annular seat-engaging wall, themean diameter of which is greater than that of the tube, and the widthof which is relatively broad as compared to the extent to which theannular shoulder projects beyond the surface of the tube, whereby saidflaring convex wall may make facial contact with an outwardly flaringseating wall formed as an extension of the passage through an associatedshank member, and the opposite end of said tube being smooth, whereby aslip-joint connection of greater or less penetration may be made with aservice pipe.

2. In a coupling for water and other pipes, a supply pipe composed of adrawn metal tube having a portion thereof nearone end projectedlaterally in all directions to provide an annular shoulder, the metal ofthe tube in advance of and adjacent the shoulder being convex inlongitudinal section and tapering from the perimeterof the shouldertoward the extremity of the tube to provide an annular seat-engagingwall;

the mean diameter of which is greater than that of the tube and thewidth of which is relatively broad as compared to the extent to whichthe shoulder projects beyond the surface of the tube, the opposite endof said tube being smooth, in combination with a pair of pipeconnections, one of which connections has an outwardly flaring internalseat formed as an extension of. the passage therethrough and into whichthe extremity of the tube projects and against which the outer face ofthe convex wall in advance of the said shoulder makes contact, and intothe other of which connections the smooth end of the supply pipe is freeto telescope to a greater or less depth, and coupling nuts for coupling.the supply pipe at its opposite ends respectively to the said pipe 1connections. I

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of twosubscribing witnesses.

I ANTON C. SCHUERMANN. Witnesses: v

WILLIAM R. BIDDLE, v LEONARD F. MCKIBBEN.

